Birthdays Are Meant To Be Happy Days
by kyouno-aru
Summary: Birthday fic for Killua. Unlike most other children, birthdays were nothing to Killua. He'd never understood why the song was called 'Happy Birthday', but with the help of a certain spiky-haired boy, that was all about to change. Oneshot.


_**Hey! ~**_

_**Kyouno-aru here. This is a shortfic for Killua's birthday, which was yesterday. I was only able to upload this today, so if you're wondering why this was posted on the 8th and not the 7th, that's why! :D**_

_**Number of words: About 1450, give or take a few.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own this amazing creation called Hunter x Hunter. Togashi Yoshihiro does.**_

* * *

**Birthdays Are Meant To Be Happy Days **

**XoX**

To most other children, birthdays were happy days.

A child would look forward to his birthday every year. Because who didn't love birthdays? A child's birthday was the day he or she received presents and got to eat yummy cake with icing. Sometimes they'd even have a party, or perhaps, invite a magician over to demonstrate some magic tricks.

And then he would get to eat cake, too.

But not before the birthday boy or girl made a wish and blew out the candles, of course!

...

Not for Killua, though.

To the silver-haired assassin, his birthday was just another regular day.

He didn't get presents.

_Unless you counted getting whipped._

He didn't have cake with yummy icing.

_Not like it made much of a difference to him, he ate that stuff all the time._

He didn't have a magician over to demonstrate tricks.

_Unless you counted learning assassination skills._

He never made a wish, either…

_Because he knew it would probably never come true._

**XoX**

When Killua was five, he was taught the Rhythm Echo. His mother, Kikyo, had called for him to come to the training room in the morning, right after he'd eaten his breakfast.

"Kil," she'd cooed, her voice dripping with sickening sweetness, "would you like to learn something new?"

The young boy had nodded enthusiastically and watched in awe as his mother demonstrated the skill, Rhythm Echo. She'd walked slowly across the room, but somehow he began seeing multiple images of her. His eyes widened, unsure of which one was his real mother, but kept silent as she came to a stop.

Killua spent the day practising the skill, later showing it off to his father, who simply beamed with pride.

Killua had forgotten his birthday, but was pleased with the new skill he'd learnt.

**XoX**

When Killua was eight and had finally been accepted to the 200th floor of the Heaven's Arena, he decided to return to Kukuroo Mountain, where his family lived. He reached home just a few days before his birthday, but even when the day came it made no difference to him. He had bought tons of treats using the money from his earnings at the Heaven's Arena and was perfectly content with them, so his birthday was ignored once again.

**XoX**

The year after, on his birthday, Killua was out on a job to assassinate the leader of a powerful group. As he neared the designated location he smirked to himself under the shelter of his jacket hood. He'd done his research, and he knew that his target was an easy one, so he didn't care much for the job.

Suddenly, he felt something hit his foot lightly and he stopped to see what it was.

A soccer ball.

He looked up at the direction where the ball had come from, only to see three young boys covered in dirt, waving at him from the field several metres away.

"Hey!" one of the boys, a blonde with curly hair, called. "Mind kicking the ball back to us?"

Killua stared blankly at the three boys for a moment before nodding and kicking the ball back to the trio. Another boy, a brown-haired one with a blue cap, received the ball, stopping it with the ball of his foot.

"Hey," he called, grinning,"do you wanna play with us?"

Killua had stood rooted to the ground once more, unsure of what to do. Sure, he'd love to play with them-he'd never had friends, after all. But there was a reason for that, the reason that prevented him from yelling an excited 'yes'.

His brother, Illumi.

Illumi believed in a strict no-friends policy when it came to Killua, saying the silver-haired assassin was far better off without them.

Thinking his brother wouldn't see him playing with the boys anyway, Killua opened his mouth to say 'yes', but as he did so he felt a light tap on his shoulder, and his eyes widened as he realized who was behind him.

It was Illumi.

The tall, black-haired man ignored his little brother's shocked stare and monotonously pointed out that Killua still had a job to complete. The smaller boy had jumped at the realization and run off, still slightly shocked and ashamed that he'd forgotten the job.

Later that day, when Killua returned by the same route, he noticed three bodies lying limp in the field, along with the brown-haired boy's blue cap. He blinked at the sight, standing still to stare at it for several seconds before moving on. The young assassin sighed to himself and pulled his jacket hood up a little higher.

Once more, the silver-haired child's birthday had been forgotten.

**XoX**

On the day of his 11th birthday, Killua was walking around the mansion's entrance with Kanaria, the butler just two or three years his senior. The dark-skinned girl had repeatedly refused to become Killua's friend, each time saying that they couldn't because of their different statuses. She was a servant and he was her master.

That had upset Killua, but the boy was well aware of what his mother would do to Kanaria if she said yes, so to spare her the trouble he stopped asking her the question he longed to hear a 'yes' to.

Killua sighed and looked at the employee.

"I'm gonna go look for Mike. Wanna come?" he asked Kanaria hopefully.

The young butler shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry, Master Killua, but I think I've gone far enough. I should be heading back now," she answered, giving the assassin a soft smile. "I'd love to, though. "

Killua shrugged and began to walk off, Kanaria heading in the other direction. Several seconds later, the butler remembered something and spun around to tell the silver-haired boy, but the assassin had already disappeared.

"Happy birthday, Master Killua," she whispered softly.

**XoX**

Killua snuggled up against Mike's shaggy fur, sighing. He looked at the brown creature, who simply stared back in response.

"Hey, Mike," the young boy murmured, "today's my birthday, you know."

Mike simply growled and licked Killua's hand, and for a moment Killua wondered if the guard dog understood his words.

The silver-haired boy smiled and closed his eyes, dozing off.

"Oh well," he sighed, "maybe next year will be different."

And sure enough, it was, for the next year Killua found himself back at the Heaven's Arena with Gon, a spiky-haired boy he'd met during the Hunter Exam.

**XoX**

Gon had broken his arm during a match with his opponent, Gido, and had made a promise with their Nen master Wing that he wouldn't use Nen for a month. There were still about three more weeks to go, but Gon was doing well so far. Now as Killua sat at the edge of the bed, talking to Gon who lay down; the ex-assassin found himself having the best birthday he'd ever had so far- perhaps because this was the first time he had a friend with him.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot!" Gon exclaimed, suddenly sitting up. He turned to his left and opened one of the drawers from the wooden chest next to the bed. Carefully, he took out a small wrapped parcel and set it on his left before closing the drawer and turning back to his friend.

"What's this, Gon?" Killua asked, confused.

"This is for you," Gon grinned, beckoning for Killua to come closer.

"Happy birthday, Killua."

The silver-haired boy's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected Gon to remember his birthday! He shuffled closer to Gon and took the parcel in his hands, slowly unwrapping it.

"It's not much, but I hope you like it," the injured boy scratched his cheek nervously, wondering if his friend would like the gift. His eyes followed Killua's hands as they undid the wrapping paper completely.

Upon seeing the gifts, Killua's face flushed red. He didn't know how to tell Gon that he really loved the gift he'd gotten him.

Gon had given him his favourite chocolate snack, Chocorobo-kun, and a photo that Leorio, Kurapika, Gon and he had taken before going their separate ways. Indeed, it wasn't much, but it was the first birthday gift Killua had ever gotten, so it made him smile.

"Thanks, Gon," he laughed joyously, thanking his friend.

The rest of the day passed by, ending with Killua, Gon and Zushi devouring a small chocolate cake Wing had bought for his silver-haired boy student.

The celebration had been small and simple,

but it meant a lot to the former assassin,

because for the first time in his life,

Killua had been able to have what others called

_a _

_happy _

_birthday._

_**XoX**_

_**Hope you enjoyed it! **_

_**-Kyouno-aru**_


End file.
